Celebrate Christmas with a festive feast at Stirling Castle

30 September 2010

This festive season, choose one of Scotland’s most splendid historic venues for a truly special and unforgettable celebration lunch with family or friends. The stunning stronghold of Stirling Castle has a tempting Christmas Lunch on offer for lovers of superb food and great surroundings.

From the 11th to 23rd December, a special lunch in the castle’s attractive Unicorn Café offers a great festive treat as well as excellent value, with a tempting three-course meal followed by coffee and mince pies, for £29 per person.

The price includes free entry to Stirling Castle to enable diners to turn their lunch visit into a great day out by exploring the iconic attraction and doing some Christmas shopping in the castle’s gift shops.

The delicious Christmas menu features starters including Isle of Uist smoked salmon cake with herb salad, and green bean and goats cheese with a red pepper and shallot dressing. Main courses – in addition to roast turkey with all the trimmings – include slow braised Scotch beef in a claret and Arran grain mustard gravy, and sweet potato and roast red onion. The selection of desserts includes Christmas pudding, and Drambuie panacotta with caramelised orange and vanilla compote.

Historic Scotland Catering Contracts Manager Elizabeth Strain said: “Our festive lunches at Stirling Castle is ideal for anyone looking for a special venue to treat family, friends or colleagues. It combines outstanding dining with the fantastic surroundings of one of Scotland’s best-loved castles for a really enjoyable and memorable experience.”

Notes for Editors

Stirling Castle is one of Scotland’s grandest castles due to its imposing position and impressive architecture. From the castle’s ramparts, visitors can take in views over two of Scotland’s most important battle sites – Stirling Bridge (1297) and Bannockburn (1314). The castle is at the head of Stirling’s historic old town, off M9 junction 9 or 10. Tel: 01786 450000. For details of opening times and further information on the castle, visit www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk.

Major conservation work has been carried out at Stirling Castle over many years to preserve the attraction as a major national and international monument. An ambitious £12 million scheme, the Stirling Castle Palace Project, is currently underway to restore and refurbish the Royal Palace at Stirling and present the Royal Lodgings as they might have appeared in the heyday of Scotland’s Stewart court in the mid 16th century. The project is due for completion in Spring 2011. An interpretive display on the court of James V will be created in the palace vaults and a Renaissance Gallery on the upper floors of the palace will house the original Stirling Heads, a rare group of intricately carved oak ceiling medallions depicting kings,queens, courtiers and mythological creatures. Costumed interpreters will bring to life the history of the 16th century to enrich visitors’ enjoyment.

Stirling Castle is one of the most popular of 345 outstanding heritage properties and sites in the care of Historic Scotland. Ranging from prehistoric dwellings to medieval castles, and from cathedrals to industrial buildings, these include some of the leading tourism attractions in the country. Among these are Edinburgh, Stirling and Urquhart Castles, Skara Brae, and the Border Abbeys. For further details of all of Historic Scotland’s sites visit: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/places and for more information on Stirling Castle, visit: www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk

Historic Scotland’s Mission is: to safeguard Scotland’s historic environment and to promote its understanding and enjoyment.

The journey planning form requires javascript, which is unsupported by your browser.For your journey planning needs use the main journey planner.